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VERSUS: Football underpins so much of your creative work. What’s your personal love story with the beautiful game?
Kelly Anna: I was always into sport as a kid – I did everything from gymnastics to karate, but I didn’t get into football until about five years ago. I started watching women’s football and that wasn’t so visible when I was growing up, so it’s been extremely exciting being part of that journey and learning much about the sport along with everyone else.
Women’s football has actually been really important to make the game as a whole more accepting of diversity and creativity. Have you found football a welcoming ‘canvas’ for your art?
As an artist, the storylines and emotion in football are all I need to create! The work I do is all about energy and power. Even the stadiums, coming away from a game, you’ve got such big energy which is a massive creative fuel…
You’ve partnered with Expedia for the UCL final in London – talk me through the work you’ve done together.
We came up with large scale piece for the fanzone which was inspired by “Travelling the Beautiful Game”, so we looked at all the different UCL cities and showcased the journey fans had gone through to get to the final in London. It’s going to be on display in Trafalgar Square, and we also produced football jerseys with the same message.
Your job was bringing London to life – what aspects of the city did you most want to capture in this project?
I’ve lived here for half of my life and the one thing I always love about London is the energy our city has. Also, people always think of London as really grey and cloudy – but I actually see the city in so much colour! We have so much diversity here and I wanted to get that across in the artwork, too.
Football jerseys have become such a big staple in lifestyle culture – what’s your perspective on that?
For me, it was such an exciting ask! I’ve always been into fashion and I think there’s always been a link between fashion and sport, especially right now. There’s also a nostalgic feeling that we get from football jerseys and because of that, they continuously work their way back into fashion culture. We went away from the typical repeated pattern you see on football jerseys with this release, and wanted to produce something heroic.
For anyone who’s visiting London for the UCL final this weekend, what parts of the city would you recommend?
I live in East London and there’s so many great places to eat! I love Guts Gallery in Hackney, they work with underrepresented artists. Maybe it’s just because I’m in the arts scene, but there’s so many artists around here and it gives this corner of the city a beautiful vibe.
Have you got a city in Europe you’d love to watch the UCL in next season?
Dortmund was driving the biggest travel interest this season, so I’d probably check that city out as I’m so intrigued!
How much are you looking forward to UCL final weekend?
It’s going to be really exciting to see so much passion and energy in London. I’m excited to see how they interact and respond to the artwork!
Kelly Anna was speaking on behalf of Expedia Live, after curating bespoke artwork that depicts travelling the beautiful game to London for the Expedia stand at the UEFA Champions Festival in Trafalgar Square on 30 May – 2 June. Visit Expedia Live or head to the Champions Festival.
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